Book picks similar to
Quantum Shift by Kyle Johnson


litrpg
cultivation
gamelit
post-apocalyptic

The Beginning


Joshua Kern - 2019
    Everyone else got a nice little message that showed up their vision. Everyone else woke up when the gods decided to make their decision known. Only Charles gets cursed by the gods, and only Charles gets a visit from one as well.The Game of the Gods has begun and the monsters of old are returning to our world, and all it took was the death of half the world's population and counting.

Starred Tower


Ryan DeBruyn - 2021
    An epic change in biology. Humanity’s new powers. No instructions. So, everyone created their own!Born over a century after ‘The Rise,’ Jeff scavenges with his tyrannical mother for survival. Banned from cultivating freely, Jeff wants none of this life; his one objective is to join the immortal rankers as they attempt to climb the Northern Tower. On the day of his escape, a powerful guild attacks Leah’s group, and Jeff is thrown through a unique dungeon portal— a portal that hasn’t been used in nearly a hundred years.In the pursuit of Jeff’s ultimate goal, he must choose whether to follow the Church, join a guild or try it all on his own. Predators don’t only come from dungeons, and he must dig through mountains of misinformation for one straight answer.When spells and skills unleash chaos, a special blue screen powers up, and Jeff’s journey to the peak or the grave begins.

Enter System


Tom Larcombe - 2021
    When a message appears in his line of sight, blocking out absolutely everything else, he nearly freaks out. The message warns that the world has been in a variant Natural Laws beta test for millennia and that it's about to revert to the norms.Deciding that even if he is insane, it's not going to hurt anything to try to prepare, he settles in to do so. Despite the atrocious lack of skill the System has with the English language, he manages to work his way through enough help files to get a clue of what's coming. After sharing his discovery with a few friends, they all start to prepare together.Once the change begins, the small group races to create a Safe Zone, an area where monsters will not spawn and where they can gather other survivors in an attempt to rescue as much of the town as possible. Along the way they discover that the new System can award classes that resemble those of the games the group has played, as well as magic for those capable of grasping it.With monsters spawning throughout the town, everyday animals being mutated into dangerous creatures, and a System that desperately needs English language lessons, they'll do their best to save as many of the local residents as they can.This story is approximately 155,000 words long and DRM free.

Apocalypse Online


Robyn Wideman - 2021
    They just have to survive, level up and find other survivors.Jake is no gamer. But when he finds out aliens have arrived, he'll do anything to protect his little sister Sam.Will they be able to grow strong enough for the second wave or will they become alien plant food?APOCALYPSE ONLINE is a litrpg/gamelit post-apocalypse fantasy series filled with action, adventure, aliens and snarky AIs.If you are a fan of System Apocalypse, Defiance of the Fall, or the Sun Shadow series, you'll love Apocalypse Online!

Wagga


Alex Kozlowski - 2021
    The next, an unknown energy force changes the very nature of life itself, from the smallest organism to the top of the food chain. The earth’s surviving inhabitants, its environment, and the very laws of physics have all undergone fundamental transformations.Many of those changes aren’t pretty. Plenty of them are deadly.Luckily for Earth, this has happened to other species before, and everyone receives an interface that survivors of similar events have used to navigate through an alien landscape.Adrian’s going to need every advantage he can get. He’s stranded in the middle of nowhere, there are days, maybe weeks of travel between him and his family, and in a world full of monsters and mayhem, survival means beating the learning curve…

Blood of Fate


Dan Sugralinov - 2019
    This is the ninety ninth world for this traveler who has spent an entire life in each of his previous worlds. And now he is out of lives, his previous misdeeds leaving him with a negative balance of points and preventing him from reincarnating anew. Once he realizes that he must spend his final life in a poverty-stricken family in a backward world, he awakens the consciousness of the deceased Luca and ends his own physical existence, leaving all his abilities to his heir.One such ability is the use of the Wheel. Every traveler can spend points to spin the Wheel and gain a special talent, a superpower, or... a deadly illness. Luca spins the Wheel and gains the superpower of metamorphosis. Now he can regenerate, recover from deadly wounds and even take on the shape of other beings. The young man takes on the form of the Emperor: to avoid death, help his family and, finally, to bring order to the Empire!

A Fist Full of Credits


Tao Wong - 2021
    Veteran. Survivor.Hal Mason's still going to find surviving the System Apocalypse challenging.While bringing in his latest fugitive, Hal's payday is interrupted by the translucent blue boxes that herald Earth's introduction to the System - a galaxy spanning wave of structured mystical energy that destroys all electronics and bestows game-like abilities upon mankind.With society breaking down and mutating wildlife rampaging through the city of Pittsburgh, those who remain will sacrifice anything for a chance at earning their next Level. As bodies fall and civilization crumbles, Hal finds himself asking what price is his humanity. Are the Credits worth his hands being ever more stained with blood?Or does he press on - relentless?A Fist Full of Credits is the first book in a new series in the System Apocalypse universe. Written by debut author Craig Hamilton in Tao Wong's bestselling post-apocalyptic LitRPG universe, System Apocalypse - Relentless is another glimpse into what humanity will do when the chips are down and the monsters are crawling from the shadows.

The Hero of the Valley: Volume 1


Gary Spechko - 2021
    Chosen by the Gods, he is thrust into a world he knows little about and must grow stronger to face powerful invaders from other worlds.

Black Dawn


Nathan Ameye - 2021
    But when a solar storm reconnects Earth to the Fae Nexus, the world is engulfed in magical energy, altering the laws of nature… violently. Fuel, ammunition, and electronics explode, leaving the world in a dark apocalypse.As the flames die down, demons emerge through the Fae Nexus, swarming Gage’s hometown and enslaving the survivors.To fight back, Gage and his reunited friends harness Fae powers, becoming the Wizard, Ranger, and Fighter they’ve always played in their favorite roleplaying game.With the help of a pair of moonshiners turned Alchemists and the ghost of a long-dead gunslinger, Gage and his friends have to level up fast to free their families and defend their home against the demonic horde.He may have walked away once, but this time the only thing Gage is leaving behind are his regrets and a pile of dead demons.

Twilight Templar


C.J. Carella - 2020
    Next thing he knew, he had been transformed into his character, first-level Paladin Hawke Lightseeker, and found himself in a corpse-filled cavern complex crawling with monsters and undead. Armed with a sentient sword, Hawke must learn the rules of a reality where magic and power-leveling are as real as swords and knives, and where you only get a limited number of respawns before you die for good.Follow Hawke as he explores the mysterious Common Realm, meets new friends and foes, battles to survive, and learns more about his growing power and inner strength.Note to LitRPG Fans: This novel concentrates primarily on action-adventure, with a focus on power-leveling and learning new magic and class subsystems. Future novels will deal with town and stronghold management. There is also a harem (fade-to-black, non explicit) subplot that plays a part in the story without detracting from it.

Biomedical Self-Engineering 1


Jon Svenson - 2020
    After being released from the hospital, he discovers by accident that he is unwittingly acquiring DNA samples from other people he touches. He discovers a number of shocking facts about himself when a blue box appears in his right eye, Most importantly, he discovers that his health is nowhere near to what he assumed it would be. Can he reverse the negative aspects of his health using these blue boxes somehow? And can he reverse his poor financial situation after his wife took half his pension just before retirement? Biomedical Self-Engineering is a LitRPG slice of life adventure, following Carl as he discovers new ways of living life when he is nearing the end of his own. There are no explicit scenes, no harems, and only one swear word at the very end.

ChronoTemplar


Burt Wrenlaw - 2021
    unless you're a pawn for an eldritch horror that: (A) can bend time, and (B) is a sore loser.Justin Thyme is not a good man, nor one destined for glory. He was meant to die in obscurity, yet another level 82 Templar that was just about to get chewed up by a horde of skittering monstrosities clawing at humanity's last enclave.One short conversation with a time-splitting monstrosity later, and Justin finds himself flung five years into the past—right when the Earth was first chosen to host the 9,947th Gladiatorial Games.Justin must now do all that he can to help save the world from crumbling under the twin pressures of monsters and murderers. But it's not all about grinding experience, gaining the most levels, and kicking the most ass. He can’t even stand out too much, lest he draw the attention of the other eldritch horrors observing Earth’s struggles for their amusement.No, it’s all about making the right connections, sowing the seeds of hope, culling the pests causing despair… oh, and exploiting the hell out of the System with his ‘borrowed’ ability to tweak time to his advantage.*ChronoTemplar is a dark, crunchy litRPG with lots of stats, skills and battles, for those who love action and complex characters.

The First Tower


Tristan H. Brown - 2020
    Dragons flew across the never-ending skies, roaring toward the heavens. Elves grew trees and tended to the flowers. Dwarves crafted armor and weapons to use for battle. Demons started wars for fun.It was chaotic, yet it was still a home. Then, when things were just starting to look up, the cataclysm struck. Only one man could face the imminent disaster, but he still failed in the end. Bradley Crowe let down all of those who he loved; everyone who relied on him. Regrets? He had many. As his eyes closed, falling into an eternal slumber, he was given a second chance.

No Mistakes


Vasily Mahanenko - 2020
    Be the best, save the planet! Who’s going to fight back the monster invasion if you don’t? Prerelease already available, no text alerts or payment required.World of the Changed completely modified human consciousness. The incredible graphics that worked even on the simplest of phones. The intuitive interface that made the game accessible for absolutely anyone. The aggressive marketing campaign that put news about the game on every TV, every phone, every tablet. By the time the launch was a few days away, an entire army of fans was out there waiting for just one thing: Hour X. That was what the mysterious developers were calling the release time.But did anyone have a clue what Hour X would unleash on them? Were they ready to pay the price the game demanded? Mark Derwin, a student, was just one of many to have no idea what kind of fate awaited him in the game. All he cared about was jumping into the prerelease as soon as it came out.

The Genesis Game: Volume I


Andrew O'Kelley - 2021
    No one gained more power than the tyrant known as the Black Seraph, the Angel of Genocide. Surviving at the expense of the rest of humanity, Seraph was able to complete the World Dungeon upon reaching the Altar of the End. A hollow victory, as he was cursed by the spirit of the dungeon for ruthlessly focusing on his empowerment.His power was sealed away, deep within the dungeon; Seraph was cast into the past, reincarnated into the body of his child-like self. Forbidden from hoarding power for himself and charged with the mission of ensuring the survival of humanity. But people do not change overnight, and Seraph must find a new path forward and learn there's more to power than being a tyrant if humanity is to survive the Genesis Game.